The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-29
WHITE SLAVES IN HAWAII.
A Remarkable Story of Enforced Ser
vitude on Sugar Plantations.
F5ron1 the los An0eLeS Times


From the Los Angeles Times.
H. Benedict, waiter in a Main street
restaurant, only reached this city a short
time ago. He has just escaped from a life
of slavery that is, according to his story, a
hundred times more severe in every respect
than were the old slavery days before the
war Learning of this fact, a reporter
looked him up and drew the following state
ment, which was told in a straightforward
manner that cannot be disbelieved:
almost six years ago." Mr.. Benedict be-
gan, II was a waiter in a San Francisco
restaurant, when | was taken sick, and the
doctor who attended me told me that
would have to get away from San Fran
cisco unless | wanted to die of consumption.
The first day that | was able to be out
walked down to the water front and was
watching the ships discharge, when
stranger approached and asked me to take
a walk After having little conversation
with me he learned that / wished to leave
the city, and he told me that he was friend
ly with a number of people in Honolulu,
and that he was confident that | could
get work as soon as / reached
the islands He told me that he
represented a certain firm, and was conf
dent that l could get free passage to the
islands if would go. | met him the next
day, and he informed me that he had Sc
cured thirteen others who would go, and he
introduced me to several of them. They
all thought it good chance &c get out of
California for while, and ] consented to
go. We sailed on a schooner under a man
named Myers, and were treated like regu-
lar passengers for few days, or until we
all got over our uneasiness when Capt.
Myers came around one day with a big
blank book in his hands. He asked US our
true names, place of birth, age, and what
occupation we had followed.
I'VE thought it very strange proceedings,
but said nothing, although we were greatly
troubled. When we reached the islands we
did not go into port, but stopped outside.
A steam launch was soon alongside, and a
man who represented himself to be a doctor
came aboard. He and the Captain were
closeted for quite while, when the doctor
came aft and gave each one of us medical
examination The Captain and doctor then
left the ship and few hours after weighed
anchor, and for two days we were sailing in
and out among islands Finally we were
landed at large sugar plantation and given
to understand that we were to work in the
field We learned the next day that the plan
tation was owned by two men who were
considered the hardest task masters on the
islands We were told that we had been
employed through the captain, and that we
were to get $50 a month each. We hest
tated about going to work at first, but the
foreman talked very nice to us, and after
we had worked "a month we went to the
foreman's office to draw our pay. Here we
were Mortified to learn that we had been
sold to the sugar planters as slaves for SO
much head that it would take us just
three years to buy our freedom, if we
worked every day. We were credited with
Csc. day when we worked, and when we
we're too sick to work they charged
us 75c. a day for board. They paid
so much for us, and we had to work our
freedom out at the rate of 25c. a day. and
under the laws of the island we agreed to
this contract the first day we worked-as
going to work with our own free will sig
nifies that we were willing to work for the
planters for our passage to the islands.
Well, we made a hard kick against such
treatment, but there was no help for it, as
the plantation was guarded by company
of native soldiers who were only too willing
to shoot white slave who attempted to
escape.
"When we refused to work we were placed
in the stocks and whipped until the blood
streamed off our backs. When a man
wanted TO lay off because of sickness a
plantation doctor was called in, and If the
doctor sold he was not sick the fellow was
either whipped or killed. | have known
them to take man out and shoot him be-
cause he could not work. A man was taken
violently sick one day, but the doctor said
he was all right, and the oyerseer made him
go to the field. He struggled along until
about noon, when lie dropped down dead.
We were worked ten hours day, and no
set of men were ever worked harder in the
world The work on sugar plantation is
never ended, and there arebut few men who
can hold it up many years. Out of
the fourteen who went there with me. there
are but few who lived through their slavery
days. After had been there three years l
thought my time was up, but had sur
prise in store for me in the shape of bill
the company had against me for eating SUI
gar cane and playing sick. The overseer
had charged me with every nouthful of SUI
gar cane l ever ate, and it took me just two
years more to work il out at the rate Of two
bits day. never ate any more sugar
cane, and, as good luck you'd have it, ]
was not sick 1t took mo just five years
and few weeks to work ont. and IL ! had
to tell YOU what suffered during that time
you would wonder that am alive to-day.
People might live in Honolulu q lifetime
and never know anything about the slave
system that is beng carried on in the Sand
witch Islands,